Exploring monologues for the Synoptic paper

A copy of the sheet is attached here, so you can download more sheets if you need them.

 wider-reading-comparison-table.doc

This isn’t about monologues, but this site seems a useful place to put any relevant links for your course…  So this is one for ‘As You Like It’ – a link to a useful article which has been previewed on googlebooks.  Because they presumably want you to go and buy the book, they haven’t included the whole article – every so often a page is missing!  But there’s still enough there that I strongly recommend reading it and just accepting that occasionally, a line of argument will be lost and you’ll have to pick up a new one.  Make notes as relevant to help you with your revision.  It’s particularly useful on the genre of what’s known as ‘Festive Comedy’ and how the play fits into that genre. 

Click here for the link – enjoy!

You need to select and read at least one text for each of the 4 sections of the monologue reading list I gave you.  Check that you have the list before the holiday!  So that’s one novel, one set of poems, one play and one non-fiction text.  You can use the extracts from the booklet to help you decide what texts you’d like to read, or you can select texts of your own that you feel fit OCR’s definition of a monologue.  Remember to check with me that they’re of sufficient ‘literary merit’ first though!

As you read each one, you need to post an analysis of how ideas and feelings are presented through literary and linguistic techniques.

 You also need to comment on as many other blogs as you can – at least 6 others.  Obviously, this means you can’t leave all your posting till the last minute – you need to post as you go, so people have something to comment on!  If you are having technical difficulties, you can:

• Post a comment on this message to let me know, and I’ll try to fix it
• Email me by responding to the email address that appears when I’ve commented on your posts
• Use the edublogs support forums to help you
• Email me your post and your username and password, and I can try to post it for you

Happy reading!

Write a post analysing the 3 monologues we studied last week by Brian Friel.  For each one, say how the feelings of the character have been presented through their monologue, and how a sense of the character and their voice is created.  I will expect you to include more detail on the one you analysed in your group, but would like you to cover the other 2 briefly as well.

Then comment, as you did for Duffy, on whether you think Friel has effectively conveyed a sense of 3 different characters or whether you feel the voices are very similar.  Give reasons.  Would you read more of Friel’s work?  Say why.

Finally, go onto at least 2 blogs that you haven’t already commented on and respond to both their overall viewpoint, and to an aspect of their analysis that interests you.

Deadline for your post: midnight on Thursday 12th July

Deadline for comments: midnight on Saturday 14th July

Deadline for moderating comments so they can be seen: midnight on Monday 16th July

We have now studied 3 monologues by Carol Ann Duffy – Medusa, The Devil’s Wife and Eurydice.  You should also remember Stealing and Elvis’s Twin Sister, which we looked at briefly during your coursework.  Finally, you may have done Education for Leisure, Anne Hathaway or Salome for GCSE.

With all these poems in mind, think about how Duffy creates different speaking voices and expresses very different feelings and ideas through them.  Write a post analysing her monologues, using the following questions to guide you:

• What linguistic techniques are used to create a voice and express feelings and ideas in any or all of the poems you’ve read?
• What literary techniques are used?  You might want to think particularly about specifically poetic techniques – form, rhythm, phonological features such as assonance, rhyme and alliteration.
• Do you think she is successful in creating a range of different voices or do you feel that you’re always reading a version of Duffy’s own voice?
• Would you read more of her poems?  Say why.

Then go onto 2 other people’s blogs and post a comment responding to what they’ve said.  You might choose to give your own opinion about the last 2 points, especially if it disagrees with theirs (but be constructive and polite!).  Or you might pick up on something they’ve said an expand on it.

Deadline for posting: midnight on Thursday 5th July

Deadline for comments: midnight on Saturday 7th July

Deadline for moderating comments so that I can see them: midnight on Monday 9th July

You are probably having a few teething problems as you get used to your blogs.  I have now added a copy of the instruction sheet you were given on this site – just go to blog instructions to find links to all the sections. 

If there’s anything else you’d like instructions on, or you’re having trouble with a particular feature, post a comment in reply to this message, and I will reply either here or on your blog – or if anyone else knows the answer, they can reply too!

Last week, you all brought in a text that you considered to be a monologue.  I would like you to write a post on your blog that includes:

• what the text is and briefly what it is about
• what features it has that make it conform to OCR’s definition of a monologue (see ‘About the Synoptic paper’)
• A quote or quotes from the text to illustrate the points you have made above.
• What sort of speaking voice you think is created and some of the ways you think the author has done this.

The title should be the title of your text, or something including it.

You will be studying the monologue as part of the Synoptic unit for A2 Language and Literature.  This blog is the central point from which you can:

• access each other’s blogs via the links on the right
• see any other useful links that have been provided for you to use
• access any blog-related homework tasks.  Some of these will be posted here and you will be asked to post a comment in reply.  Some will ask you to post on your own blogs, or comment on each other’s posts

You will be asked to read a variety of texts that can be considered monologues and post comments, reviews or brief analysis of these texts.  Your own blogs will become records of your wider reading, and by visiting and commenting on each other’s blogs, you will be provided with more ideas for wider reading.  Both your own blog and this central blog can also be used to post questions about the topic, or get advice from others.